I don

I don't own Tenchi Muyo.

The Prodigal Son

By The Great El Dober

Chapter Five

They swarmed out from the house, from the fields, from the shrine, they came from all around, all summoned by this immense thunderous sound that tore the peace from the sky. Tenchi led the charge, his sword grasped firmly in his hand, as he ran towards what he thought to be the source of the disturbance, only to find himself approaching . . . .

"Washu?" he asked in a confused surprise, "What was that . . ."

"Hey," the ever-observant Mihoshi shouted from a few paces behind him, "Isn't that Hono's ship?"

"Why, I believe it is," Ayeka confirmed, casting her gaze up to the skies, "Is he leaving Miss Washu? I must say it seems most improper to leave without even . . ."

"Where's Ryoko?" Sasami cut in, worried at the notable absence of her space pirate friend. In times of apparent danger Ryoko was always the first to act on it. She would never leave Tenchi, Washu and the others to face it alone. Where was she?

"Ryoko is on the ship," Washu explained in a burdened weary voice that seemed to drag with a strange sorrow and a certain concern.

"Oh fun!" exclaimed the happy Mihoshi, "They've went on a trip together. How nice."

"Yes," Tenchi agreed in a pleased voice as he put his sword away, "It's good to see that they are finally getting along. I was getting worried that . . ."

"You don't understand," Washu interrupted in her same burdened tones, slow and subdued but with such alarming impact as her voice seemed to promise dire news, "You don't understand at all. Ryoko is on the ship but she is unconscious."

"Unconscious!" Tenchi yelled in alarm, his cosy, content image had been shattered and replaced with a fearful sense of danger, "No, you don't think that . . ."

"Tenchi, I don't know what to think," Washu admitted as she slowly hung her head in a remorseful defeat. For once, the greatest scientific genius in the universe didn't have the answers, she didn't know what to do. She had two options but both of them seemed unthinkable. Track down her long lost son as if he was a wild animal? Abandon her precious daughter? How could she possibly choose?

"But it can't be," Sasami almost cried, feeling shades of guilt at her own failed secret attempts to make things better, "He seemed so nice."

"But come to think of it," Ayeka began, speaking as if she was unearthing a great mystery or unravelling a crucial clue, "His behaviour did seem a bit odd. He seemed very reserved and restrained, even for an aristocrat. He never seemed emotional, despite being reunited with his long lost mother."

"And he acted really strange around Ryoko," Mihoshi added, being swept away in the whole detective moment, "He hardly said anything to his own sister, now that seemed pretty weird now that I think of it."

"Oh, now you think of it!" Washu screamed at them in frustration, "Why couldn't you have thought of it ten minutes ago?"

She sighed a long exasperated, irritated sigh. It wasn't their fault, no one had known what to except but now everything was being seen in a very different light and perhaps she just didn't want to accept the possible truth.

However she really shouldn't have shouted at them, she had seen far more than they had. Hono had acted very cold towards Ryoko at one point. Why hadn't she noticed sooner?

"I'm sorry," Washu apologised weakly, "But I'm just so frustrated. I just don't know what to do."

"But Miss Washu," Ayeka offered, "Didn't you once say you had a mind link with Ryoko? Wouldn't that give us a better idea of what to do?"

"It would," Washu admitted sadly, "But I can't use it when Ryoko is unconscious."

"Couldn't you check Hono's mind then?" Tenchi asked, trying to help forge a way forward, trying to form a solution.

"No, I don't have a link with Hono," Washu explained glumly as another honest attempt had to rejected, "When they took Hono from me they hid him. I searched for him for many years but I never found him. That's why I made the link with Ryoko, so that no one could ever hide my children from me again but that was only after I lost Hono."

A thwarted silence fell over the group as they considered this information. There was no way to know what had really happened here. They would have to wait until Ryoko woke up for more information, assuming that she would wake up. There were no more sources of help.

Or was there?

"Yes, that Hono was most strange," Katsuhito's wise voice spoke up, "He kept asking questions about Ryoko and her gems . . ."

"What did you tell him?" Washu demanded in a desperate, rushed voice that showed her pure apprehension and fear.

"I told him many things," the old man continued, calm and controlled as ever, "For example I told him how Ryoko needed the gems to maintain the link with her mother."

"But that's not true," Washu informed him, her voice full of confusion, "The link works all of the time. It can be blocked as it is now but it's always operational."

"Exactly," the old man replied with a mischievous grin, preparing to reveal his devious deception, "Trickery and surprise are the two lightest weapons at your disposal but they make the heaviest impact."

"I see," Ayeka replied as it all began to make sense, "He thinks we have no way of finding him but in fact we do. We can locate him through Washu's link."

The old man nodded. It wasn't much but it was a start. At least they were one step ahead of him in one respect, although they still had a very long way to go until they could solve this problem.

"But why would he do it?" Sasami asked, her innocent mind unable to grasp why this was happening in the first place, "Ryoko didn't even do anything."

"But she has done things in the past. It is probably related to Ryoko's crimes under Kagato," Katsuhito guessed, "It was inevitable that someone would eventually act upon it."

"But that's impossible," Ayeka declared, "With the statures of limitations in place Ryoko is free of her crimes, her criminal record has been erased by the Galaxy Police."

The old paused in a reflective silence as he considered this. He hadn't known about the stature of limitations affecting Ryoko but from his memories of his past on Jurai he knew exactly what this meant and entailed. No one would dare defy that level of authority, unless of course . . .

"Mihoshi," he finally asked, "Am I right in thinking that the Galaxy Police keep records on everyone living within their jurisdiction?"

"Yes," Mihoshi replied crisply, her mind now in full police mode.

"So it would be a pretty big oversight," he continued, "For them not to notice that Ryoko, a most wanted space pirate, had a brother."

"Well yes," Mihoshi giggled, "I guess it would."

"Then tell me," Katsuhito continued, turning to address Washu, "Assuming that Hono did live outside of Galaxy Police jurisdiction, is it possible that Ryoko ever attacked his planet. Did Ryoko's attacks ever venture further than our known jurisdiction?"

"Yes," Washu admitted in a deeply sorrowful and regretful voice that was wounded and weary from hurtful memories and recollections of her daughter's tragic, horrid past, "Much further."

"Well what are we waiting for? Why don't we go find them?" Tenchi asked, becoming restless with all this time wasting. Something was wrong and he felt a deep, urgent need to do something about it. He felt this potent calling whenever any of his friends were in serious trouble and Ryoko's situation seemed to grow more grave and grim with every passing moment.

"But I can't," Washu objected in a hurried fear, desperately trying to avoid being drawn into this confrontation, "I can't, I don't know what to do, I . . . ."

She collapsed to her knees, submerged in dread, defeated by the impossible decision she was being forced to make. She feared terrible consequences no matter what she decided to do. She feared that if she refused to go and stayed on earth then Hono would take Ryoko away from her and she would never she her treasured daughter ever again.

Then, opposing that fear was another equally strong and disturbing fear. What if she did go and discovered the reasons behind it all, discovered things about her son she didn't want to know, things she would rather remain blissfully unaware of. Worse still, what if it came down to a fight? Could she fight her own son, the son that she had already failed so badly?

If it came down to it could she choose? She might very well have to if the truth was a bleak as it appeared to be. Hono or Ryoko? Could she really make such a drastic decision?

She couldn't.

She knew that she couldn't and that's why she hesitated, too scared to face her problems, just wishing that they would somehow miraculously mend themselves. She knelt in the dirt holding this unfeasible hope in her mind, clinging to it as it was the only comfort she could find. For once she felt completely and absolutely beaten and the battle hadn't even begun yet.

She was in dire need of help.

"Tenchi, take the girls and go back to the house," Katsuhito ordered, "Make preparations for leaving while I talk to Washu."

Hesitantly Tenchi complied and soon he and the others headed back to the house, preparing to launch in pursuit, their minds focused in anticipation of a battle ahead. However Katsuhito still waited until they were far out of earshot until continuing.

"You know, you are almost as bad as Tenchi," he began, "You let emotions rule everything. Emotions have their place in life but it is most definitely not combat."

"I'm their mother!" Washu shot back furiously, enraged that he would treat such devastating matters so lightly, "How can I not be emotional? This is a nightmare for me. How do you expect me to handle it?"

"I understand that," Katsuhito continued, "If Tenchi was to ever go astray and commit such acts then I wouldn't know how to react either. Whether I should stand up as a warrior or sit back as a grand parent. However if Tenchi was ever in trouble I know exactly how I would react."

Washu was beginning to see his point and it was beginning to draw back memories. Only minutes ago she had been apologising to Ryoko for not always dealing with situations properly and now look at her, she was hesitating to come to Ryoko's aid, she was considering abandoning Ryoko so that she could avoid the discomfort of her own fear.

"You have to be strong for Ryoko," Katsuhito told her, "Let your emotions drive your cause but let your wisdom guide it. That is the only advice I can offer you, the rest is now up to you."

Washu considered this. He was right, the question shouldn't be whether or not she could make the decision between them as a mother, it should be whether or not, as a mother, she was prepared to abandon either of her children. His reassuring and supportive words guided her mind into a more stable frame of thinking and led her thoughts down a more determined and focused path.

Something had to be done and she had to put her own fears aside, as he had said she had to be strong for Ryoko, and just do it. Her fear was still there and it still boiled in the pit of her stomach, wafting up hesitation and uncertainty but she was prepared to try and ignore it, to let her actions bypass these feelings and hope that she could hold it all together.

"Thank you Lord Katsuhito," she finally said before breaking into a sprint back towards the house to gather the others.

She was going to rescue Ryoko.

Space

She slowly opened her dragging eyelids to resurface into the waking world. What was this place? She seemed to be in a large circular room that contained very little, it seemed to be reminiscent of something but she wasn't exactly sure what.

These foreign surroundings quickly began to provoke fear and insecurity in her mind, she felt trapped and isolated, she needed to escape. Quickly she made an attempt for freedom and began to phase out of the room, but as she began to pass through the walls she felt a strong force, like a colossal magnetic polarity, and it pushed her, forced her back into the room.

As her body was thrown back to fall gracelessly onto the ground she came to realise that there would be no immediate escape from this place. She couldn't phase out this room, this wasn't something random, it was a premeditated plan. As her rushed panic began to gradually subside, she tried to organise her thoughts and memories, she needed to align them back into focus in order to develop a solution.

Then as she heard footsteps behind her she realised that she was not alone. She swiftly turned her head around to face this being, although as her memories slowly begin to seep back into focus she already knew who it was.

He stood there glowering down at her with a seething look of hatred and contempt. He had obviously changed his clothes. His free flowing hair had been tied back and gone were the extravagant robes of intricate design, instead he wore much lighter and unrestricting attire, much like fighting gear.

Fighting. That single word motivated Ryoko's thoughts to change from observant to defensive. Her memories reminded her of what he had done, he had attacked her unprovoked. Her promise to her mother and her good intentions suddenly slipped from her mind and were replaced by a driving aggression.

He attacked me! she thought in fury, just when I was trying to make things better! I was going to make sacrifices and look at the thanks I get!

Her body, fuelled by her thoughts and aggression, flew towards Hono in a furious charge, lunging in a feral assault.

But something didn't feel right. Something was missing.

"Back you beast!" he shouted as he swatted her away with a single arm and relative ease. Ryoko was shocked as she fell to the ground in a twisted heap. How could he possibly repel her so easily? How could he be so much stronger?

Then she saw it, the answer to her question, a small shimmering red jewel on his wrist. Her gem. More memories flocked back into her mind, memories of a conversation earlier that day.

"Anytime that I ever slip up and you feel hurt or upset then just look at your gem," her mother had told her, "and remember that you are worthy. You are worthy of my love."

"No! You can't have it," Ryoko screamed as she scrambled to her feet and made a panicked lunge for his wrist, "Mom gave it to me, you can't have it! It's mine!"

She couldn't let him have it. It was a symbol of her mother's acceptance, a token of her mother's love. She didn't care that the gem made him her superior in strength, she didn't care about the cataclysmic power that it contained, to her its real power was the colossal sentimental value that it held. As she scrapped and pawed at his arm, desperately trying to recover her precious possession, that was the only thing that mattered, but yet again she was batted away with embarrassing ease.

"Silence beast!" he commanded in a voice of pure anger and aggression. His eyes burned into her soul with a great depth, burrowing away with a fearful contempt. It was a look of sheer hate.

"You won't win, Mom won't accept it," Ryoko told him, subconsciously switching to verbal warfare after finding her self outmatched physically, "You can't just get rid of me. Mom loves me too, she said . . ."

"I said silence!" he screamed in rage, furious at her continuing disobedience, before calming down to continue, "You don't even know what you are talking about. I have no intentions of returning to Earth."

"Don't you love Mom?" Ryoko asked in a shocked, almost disgusted surprise, "Has this all been an act just to get me? You better not hurt any of them."

"The others are honest pleasant people who's company I found most enjoyable, I wish no harm upon any of them, I am not a beast like you" he retorted, "But as I said previously I believed my stepmother to be my true mother and embraced her as such. While I have sympathy for Washu, that is all, I cried tears for my mother when I buried her, it would be wrong for me to accept another and while I would have enjoyed the opportunity to know Washu better I now that my chances are now ruined. A costly loss but a worthwhile one."

Ryoko's verbal uprising fell into a confused silence. This wasn't about Washu? He didn't care about Earth? Then . . .

"Then why?" Ryoko asked in an innocent confusion, not able to think of any other possible reasons, "Why are you doing this?"

His whole body contorted in irritation and antagonism, his head and shoulders contracted in a livid infuriation. Her insulting disobedience was intolerable and he felt the question, an invitation to explain, tempting the restraint that he had painfully enforced since his arrival. Could he hold out much longer? These strong feelings were becoming too much, he wasn't sure he could keep them bottled up much longer, the truth had to come out. He could feel it, he could . . .

"I can't control my feelings!" he cried out in frustration, "I can't hide this any longer so I shall tell you and hope that every horrid word burns in your soul with the pain that they have brought me. I hope that if you do have a wicked heart in your evil soul that it bleeds in guilt at my sorrowful tale."

"What do you mean?" asked an insecure and intimidated Ryoko, frightened by the sheer passionate aggression that seemed to flow from everything he did, "What have I done?"

"What have you done?" he asked, loosely echoing her words, "I shall remind you of your vile acts if you have so easily forgotten and I shall tell you of the horrid consequences of them. The consequences that it had on me . . . ."

Somewhere outside GP space - Over 4000 years ago

He sat there alone awaiting the 'trial' to commence. He felt a hundred eyes all focused on him, some with hatred, some with doubt and even some with loyal, loving support. His friends and relatives, or descendants as they might be called, sat behind him, supporting him in his hour of need but he had no fears. He had done nothing wrong and despite the shallow fear that brought him nerves and apprehension, in his conscious mind he was certain that he would be proven innocent. It was just a coincidence, a vague resemblance, nothing more.

"This trail is ready to commence," the judge announced, "but as I understand the defendant was not born on this planet so, as is the normal procedure, the relevant aspects of the law will be read to him before this trail commences."

"You have been charged under the indirect responsibility act," a legal representative explained, "This planet believes family values and upbringings to be of critical importance, therefore if a culprit cannot be brought to justice in person then an elder family member may be held responsible in their place, as it is the planet's belief that through raising the culprit and helping to mould the person the culprit grew up to be that elder relatives have indirectly contributed to the crimes. Do you understand this concept?"

Hono nodded. He just wanted to get this over with and prove his innocence, it was all simply a coincidental resemblance. His hair was in a vaguely similar form to the Space Pirate Ryoko, that was all, nothing more.

"This trail is not to determine whether the Space Pirate Ryoko committed these crimes," the judge continued, "That has already been established and proven. This trail is to determine whether or not you are related to the culprit. How do you plead?"

"I've never seen her before in my life your honour," Hono replied honestly.

"The court will recognise that as a plea of not guilty," the judge answered, "The prosecution may begin interrogations."

"Mr.Hakibu," the prosecution spoke with a cold, clinical professionalism, "Have ever you heard of a scientist by the name of Washu?"

"Yes," admitted Hono truthfully, "she was my biological mother, according to my father's confessions but I cannot prove it. I do not recall ever meeting her."

"Where you aware that Ryoko was allegedly created by that very same scientist," the prosecution continued, "Now I ask you, would that make you brother and sister?"

"No," Hono denied, "I don't know, I have never met either of them. I can't say."

"Your honour I present you with these findings," the prosecution declared, presenting data tablets to the judge, "These are blood samples taken from the battlegrounds, they are believed to belong to the Space Pirate Ryoko and they have been compared to blood samples taken from the defendant. As you can see they both contain similar elements."

He turned to face the whole courtroom as he delivered the final blow.

"I put it to you that these common elements derive from this Washu, a mother common to both the defendant and the culprit making them brother and sister and making the defendant guilty! Do you deny it?"

"I've never met her," Hono maintained although far more restless and tense than before, "I haven't even seen her outside of news reports."

"So are you denying genetic evidence?" the prosecution asked forcefully, "Are you claiming that your word is more reliable than our most advanced DNA technologies?"

"No," Hono conceded, "I cannot claim that."

"In that case," the judge announced, his voice seemingly laced with regret and obvious sympathy, "I have no choice but to find you indirectly guilty of murder on a mass scale and sentence you to life imprisonment and punishment in the place of the Space Pirate Ryoko."

"No," was the only word that his shocked lips could whisper in a defeated hush that conveyed the complete despondency that he felt inside. His future, his life, his whole soul shattered and fell into broken pieces on the floor. It was over, his entire life was over. He was being chained to someone else's crimes and would be bound to them for the rest of his tortured life.

He looked at the judge in a pleading disbelief. He looked to the figure of authority for salvation or even just a small sign of hope.

He got neither.

All that he received in return was the same regretful look that the judge had worn while casting his verdict. He obviously sympathised and felt deep sorrow at the injustice but as a man of the law he had to stick to it. Despite the fear and terror raging through his mind, Hono knew that it wasn't his fault.

"I forgive you," he told them quietly before he was led away, down a corridor that led to hell itself. He had been scarified, a martyr for a demon.

Present Day

"I forgave them," Hono continued violently, "But I will never forgive you, you despicable beast! Never! Do you have any idea how it felt?"

He observed her insolent silence but was unaffected, he was going to continue, he was going to unload every bitter word and emotion that he had so painfully suppressed. He was going to let it all out.

"I was punished for your crimes. I was crucified in your name while you went on destroying, defacing my name even more. Do you have any idea of the torment that I suffered?

They made me scream. Your screams, they screams belonged to you but they were forced upon me. I was filled with the soul tearing terror that was rightfully yours!

They made me bleed. Your blood, it should have been your blood that was spilt but yet again I was made to endure it all. Every grieving mother, deprived child or mourning friend, every time that they felt their loss and wanted to strike back at you, they lashed me instead! They battered and bruised me with a justified passion, a venomous hatred directed at you, but suffered by me.

Do you have any idea how that feels? To have your entire life sacrificed to the shadows of another's crimes. Every time I screamed for mercy it felt as if it silenced by the rushing wind as it blew with malice in my face, pushing me back, forcing me down.

I had it forced upon me, all of your sins and crimes, all of your heinous demonic works were thrust down my throat until I spluttered and choked on them. It felt like being dragged down to drown, as I swallowed the thick water all you did was commit more crimes, dragging me down further, drowning me even more.

My voice was never heard and I was never free, I was pinned to this life of misery, to this hell."

He paused for a moment, composing himself before he continued, trying to regain control of his rampaging emotions. It was then that Ryoko caught a small glimpse of his eyes.

They were full of fear, a fantastic fear of his past and of all that he had endured. You could almost see it stretch to the base of his soul as it ran through his entire being like a festering wound that refused to close.

"But what was worse was the demons, he continued, that almighty fear still burning in his eyes, "The demons in my mind, they vanquished my spirits and conquered my soul. They are still there, they won't leave my alone even now. Sometimes I still wake with grotesque nightmares, all because of you.

As the years mounted up I hoped that I would someday die and finally end it all but I never did but prolonged life is not without its merits. During my 4000 years imprisonment there were many changes in the outside world. Social revolutions, technological advances, cultural developments and most importantly changes in the law. One change in particular that gave me parole to search for you, the true culprit, so that you can take your rightful place.

So now I have found you and I will drag you back to hell that you sent me to and finally you will feel it. You will suffer my anguish, you will understand my anger, you will endure the sheer torment that tested my sanity and broke my spirits.

Finally you will endure all that you deserve.

Finally I will be able to turn my burdens, my miseries, my pain over to you, the rightful recipient.

Finally I will be free.

Forever."

"You don't have to," Ryoko protested frantically, "We can protect you. You'll never have to run from Earth and then I can prove my innocence to you. . ."

"You misunderstand!" Hono shouted in a furious reply, the fear gone from his eyes and the anger burning with an incensed hate once more, "I could easily defend myself and escape to anywhere I wanted. I am a free man as it is. No, this isn't about freedom, this is about vengeance.

I want, I need to bring you to justice. As I said I didn't blame my oppressors, their hate was fully justifiable. I could never hate them for feeling pain of losing their loved ones, but I did hate you.

And your claims of innocence are meaningless to me. I think you underestimate the depth of my hate. Throughout all my years of suffering and captivity in your name I blamed it all on you, it was your fault, not theirs, not mine, yours. If there is a limit to hate then I have reached with you.

I loathe you!"

As those last words were spoken they sparked disturbing thoughts in Ryoko's mind as she crumpled into a twisted, sorrowful heap on the cold floor as the crippling, vile realisation finally dawned on her in all of its mortifying horror.

She wasn't the replacement.

He was.

He had being living in her wake, all of that pain that had destroyed her, left her soul so desolate and demolished in only hours, he had suffered that for thousands of years.

That proud phoenix that had awakened in her soul was now shot dead out of the sky, spluttered in a cloud of smoke and faded away into dying embers. Her sense of righteousness was shattered and replaced by a deep guilt that bore right into the core of her soul like a worm through the tender flesh of fruit, slowly turning it rotten.

Rotten, that's how she now felt, she had caused so much suffering. Not even her own torment at the hands of Kagato could save her dying spirits for even that paled in comparison to the sheer scale of what this symbolised to her.

Every victim she had ever slain, maimed or hurt was now portrayed through him. Previously they had still mattered to her but never before with such a haunting vividness. Before it had all been statistics and blurred memories with details washed away and faded with her own pain and anguish, but now all of those featureless, forgotten victims had been given a face.

And that faced scowled at her with a sheer vengeful loathing.

She collapsed into shamed tears. She knew what faced her at the end of this, hell and torture, and it filled her with a frenzied, frantic fear but worse still was this sense she held that she deserved every bit of it. This was the end, her past had finally caught up with her in the form of her own tortured brother, the very symbol of her sins.

When she had felt like a replacement she had acknowledged that she had being storing Washu's love for him, but now it was clear that as her replacement he had been storing all of that pain and misery for her and now he would deliver it to her. She suddenly realised what this sparse room reminded her of, it reminded her of a cell.

A cell, that was where she would spend the rest of her life in. She would never see her mother again. She would never see Tenchi again.

Her heart bled just as Hono hoped it would, it bled in both blood of wounding sorrow and of cutting guilt. She had never felt lower in her life. Before she had felt like nothing, now she wished that she could be just that for now she felt even worse than that.

She felt like scum.

Like a demon, the demon that she was portrayed as in legends and myths and now that demon was being dragged back to hell to suffer for its heinous acts and as she sobbed lifelessly on the ground, sprawled out like a severed puppet, those were the thoughts and fears that filled her mind with an unspeakable terror.

It was all over.

Aboard Ryo-Ohki

Washu opened her eyes and shut down the link. Ryoko's pain was getting unbearable to share and besides she now had all of the information that she needed.

Her feelings were torn between anger, guilt, hurt and sympathy.

Her dream of a united family had now been shattered after she had heard Hono's thoughts on her. She couldn't blame him, she hadn't done anything to deserve being his mother. She had missed so much of his life and now it was clear that he had been in need of support while she had not been there for him. She could never be his mother unless she could make all of that up to him and the prospect of that ever happening was beginning to seem less and less likely, but she still held a small hope that her shattered dreams would be realised but as the deep, piercing hurt in the core of her heart told her, it wouldn't be anytime soon.

Then there was a deep anger that Ryoko was being hurt again. Ryoko had suffered enough in her life, why couldn't people understand that? Why did they continue to do things like this to her? As Washu had felt every ounce of pain that jolted across the link and the disturbing thoughts behind them she had felt a deep, profound parental need to comfort her daughter, to hold her again and soothe her broken spirits, or even to console her cross the link, but she knew that she couldn't. What had Katsuhito told her? That surprise would be the key to victory. That she had to be strong for Ryoko. As much as it hurt to do so she had to be restrained and controlled for Ryoko's sake. The ends would justify the agonising means.

But opposing that anger at Ryoko's pain was a level of sympathy and understanding for her son. His hate wasn't unjustified, just misled. He wasn't a bad person, in his mind everything he did was justified and righteous. To him this was all a quest to find and vanquish an evil demon and even despite his traumatic past his gentle, caring nature was still intact.

Perhaps that was the problem. Maybe he had made a deliberate decision not to blame his oppressors in order to avoid conflict and violent feelings towards them. Perhaps it was all a measured precaution to preserve his redeeming qualities and compassionate personality, maybe that's why he bypassed his oppressors and rerouted all of that hate to Ryoko. The legendary Space Pirate Ryoko seemed a safe enough target for all of that suppressed aggression, she was out of reach, a myth that he could loathe with all his heart and probably never face, no damage was ever likely to be done by it. Yes, perhaps it was these noble thoughts that led him to choose Ryoko as the object of his hate, yes, the Space Pirate Ryoko, the unattainable target.

But now he had attained that target.

What would happen now? Would his overwhelming anger get the better of him, would the demons in his mind coax him into a bloodthirsty vengeance or could they still appeal to his better qualities, would the Hono that they had come to know and admire be willing to listen to reason? If he didn't then what would Washu do?

If it did come down to it could she choose now? For a moment she wished that Hono's confessions had been very different, that he had turned out to be a hitman or some other evil creature with sinister intentions but this painful truth was that he wasn't. For one of them to be evil would have made her decision so much easier but it wasn't a simple case of good against evil, of right over wrong, instead it was an agonising choice between the misunderstood and the misled, but neither evil. Circumstances had most definitely changed with Hono's confessions of his true thoughts but could Washu let that influence her decision? Would personal ease and preference overcome her moral standards and values? She had to remind herself that just because something feels good doesn't make it right.

However in this case neither option felt good. Each held a volume of pain, no longer equal volumes, but still it was a daunting decision should she be forced to make it and as the chances of Hono accepting his family faded that prospect was beginning to seem more and more likely.

What would she do?

Tsunami watched on in an invisible silence, her sympathetic heart mourning for her sister. Curse the universe, it wasn't fair, no being should have to go through such pain just because of who they were but the universe's persecution of the middle goddess and her family continued.

This had been Hono's horrid fate, destined to be plunged into suffering despite his innocence. Although neither would admit it, both he and Ryoko had far more in a common than simply their mother. Both had been imprisoned and had suffered a personal hell for reasons that they were not responsible for and both had survived and emerged generally good people but still plagued by certain demons. It had been their fate to do so.

And this was fate's grand plan, the fabulous joke of the cosmos. Just imagine the hilarious irony of it all, the two children of the gods, both living in each other's shadows, both replacements of each other, it was a fantastic contradicting fate that entwined Washu's children together like twin stars, burning with the same intensity, in the same orbit but on opposing sides to each other.

But these twin stars had eclipsed each other so far, each living in the shadow of the other, but now the eclipse was over. What now? What fantastic plan did fate have laid out for them?

None.

Fate, now content with its splendid masterpiece, has decided to take a back seat and just watch things play out regardless of the results. Fate no longer cared and everything now rested on the shoulders of a single being.

Washu.

End Of Chapter Five

Next Chapter - The cavalry arrives but how will Washu cope with the daunting challenge ahead? What does Hono have to say to the others?

Note - Well this ended up much longer than expected but I felt it important to really have patience and give as much time and length as necessary to this chapter as it is so pivotal to the whole story.

Anyways, one or two things to tie up that I couldn't fit into the chapter. Firstly it has become obvious that Hono hasn't spent as long searching space as he previously claimed, so how did he know about Yosho? If you remember he acquired the classified GP files on all of earth, including Yosho, and let's just assume that Lady Funaho added a few accounts of her own after her trip to Earth.

Secondly, why is Hono able to harness the power of the gems? I guessed that as a child of Washu, and therefore a descendant of the goddesses, he would be able to access the power in the same way Ryoko can. I was going to have Washu explain this but decided her mind state wasn't suitable for such thoughts.

And finally, yes I know that high profile court cases to decide a man's future are not settled in five minutes but remember that this is a distant memory were the details would be faded and the length condensed. He would only remember the key parts so that is all that is shown.